"at least we know the next S won't be for Skullgreymon, lol" -skymont

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For the first time in a long while, Sora woke up from the sound of her alarm for work. She had slept through the rest of the night and throughout the morning, even through whenever Tai rolled out of bed for work. As soon as she pushed the button on her phone to turn the alarm off, she noticed that a message from Tai was already waiting for her to read.

"Out like a light, huh? You are welcome ;P"

Sora let out a snort, laughing to herself before she replied back. She was glad that he wasn't there to hear her - otherwise, he would have made fun of her even more.

Tai didn't have much else to say the rest of the morning, given that he said he was busy with his usual meetings with clients and his boss that day. Sora had an idea then, to bake a tray of chocolate chip cookies before she left for work. They were his favorite kind, and it was a secret they kept from Mimi that Sora's cookies baked from scratch were the best he had ever tasted.

Other than Tai's affection for these cookies, as she waited for them to bake, Sora found herself wondering about Bira-sensei's words about Haru-sensei's hand being "caught in the cookie jar". Whatever Haru ended up doing left Bira-sensei unfazed, and Sora saw that she was doing well for herself, designing and selling her own clothes, as well as maintaining a successful boutique. Sora could only aspire to be like her.

However, the moment she turned the corner on the street of the boutique, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble in the distance, followed by the ground shaking.

Her first thought was that it was an earthquake, but it couldn't have been, not when there were short pauses between shakes, with each shake getting more aggressive.

When she looked up ahead, she thought her eyes deceived her. It was taller than a skyscraper, a monstrous creature only of bones, and it was heading in her direction.

Sora knew what it was.

She heard screams. Skullgreymon had already left damaged buildings and shattered glass from its path. The Birahana Boutique was one of them. People were shouting and leaving their shops, cars stopped in the road for people to leave, all running the opposite direction that Sora ran toward. If that thing was here, it only meant one thing.

"Tai!" she called out amid the panic surrounding her. "Tai! Where are you?"

But it was the creature who turned to her, now merely yards away from her, and she froze in where she stood in the middle of the street. Its green eyes glowed as it stared at her, and as she saw it lower itself to reveal the missile on its back, her eyes widened in fear of what it was planning to do.

Sora needed to get out of there, fast.

"Sora!" Tai appeared from the street, running quickly to her side, then grabbing her hand. "What the hell are you doing?! You need to get out of here!"

"Just me?!" Sora asked incredulously, refusing to leave where she stood. "What about you?! What is going on right now?"

"It's all my fault, Sora! Skullgreymon is here because of me! I have to handle him myself!"

Sora pushed his hand away. "Don't be an idiot! You know what happened last time he showed up! You'd be an idiot to try to take him on yourself!"

"It's the only way!" Tai turned to his dark digivolved partner, feet spread apart and hands balled into fists, but Sora grabbed his shoulders to have him face her again.

"I can't leave you here," she cried, her voice breaking, as strong as she tried to be. She watched his brown eyes change from fiery with determination, only to darken with worry. "I don't want to lose you. And I told you, I'd be a fool if I ever ran from you again…"

Tai relaxed his tense shoulders, lifting his hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Then, we'll run together," he said.

Sora nodded, and took his hand.

"You remember how he stopped last time," Tai continued. "We need to lead him away from the crowds. Make him run until he can't run anymore."

So Sora ran with Tai, holding his hand tightly. Skullgreymon roared behind them, and Sora felt the ground rumble with each of its steps. She and Tai ran past a corner far from where the flock of people were running, although the Digimon barged through the building with ease, picking up its pace to run after them.

"He's catching up, Tai!" Sora said, squeezing his hand tighter, her adrenaline and fear keeping her from stopping.

"Jump, Sora!" Tai said as they ran, his head turning back.

"What?"

"Just JUMP!"

Together, they jumped, launching them further down the street after their running start. The gust from Skullgreymon's swipe that they ultimately avoided pushed them even further, both of them stumbling on their feet but composing themselves to continue running.

"Ah!" Sora said all of a sudden, feeling her feet sweep up and her body crashing onto the pavement.

"Sora!" Tai stopped and kneeled at her side. "We have to keep going!"

She tried to lift herself up with all her might, but her body refused to listen.

"Tai…" she said, grunting as she kept trying. "Go without me."

"I don't want to lose you either," he said, and she turned to meet his gaze. They both looked back to see Skullgreymon had stopped with a monstrous roar, his missile ready to fire. This was it for them, and they both knew it. After one lasting stare, Tai gathered her into his arms, holding her tightly, and Sora gripped her hold around him, closing her eyes as she watched the missile launched from its back.

She heard the blast, the ground rumbling more violently than ever. But her eyes didn't catch a flash of light. When she opened her eyes, she gasped, seeing her view was darkened by a different digimon, with large wings and talons, but its gigantic body enough to protect them from the blast.

"Garudamon…" Sora said under her breath.

Tai still held her as her eyes followed Garudamon flying straight toward Skullgreymon, shooting attacks as it roared in its fury and swiped back with its claws. The battle didn't last very long after that, being enough to force all the energy for both monsters to de-digivolve back into their In-Training forms.

"It's alright now," Sora whispered to Tai, and he let go of her so they could both sit up and see their own partners in front of them, small and wiped out of energy in the large space of destruction surrounding them.

"Your arm, Sora," Tai said, making her wince in pain when he moved his hand over a fresh scrape. "We need to get that cleaned up."

She must have gotten that from her fall. But when she looked at Tai, placing her hands on his cheeks, she smiled with tears forming in her eyes.

"Not even a scratch," she said.

"Sora…"

She brought his face forward to kiss him, relieved that they both made it out alive. When they pulled away, he pressed his head against her forehead, but there was no smile on his face.

"I'm sorry I put you through this," he said. "It was my own inner demons that brought him back this way. He was trying to tell me something about the Digital World, but I was only thinking of myself, first."

Sora lifted her head back. "The Digital World? What do you mean? Is that why Yokomon is here, too?"

That was when Tai met her eyes.

"Their world is in trouble again. Our Digimon need us."

Sora stared at him, long and hard, knowing exactly what needed to happen next.

"We have to tell the others. They'll want to come with at the drop of a hat."

Tai smiled at her then, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I knew you wouldn't say no."

"Tai…" Koromon called weakly from behind them.

Sora and Tai exchanged glances before getting up to aid their Digimon. Tai picked up Koromon while Sora scooped up Yokomon, cradling her gently.

"Tai, I'm so sorry," Koromon wailed, and Tai gave him a sad smile.

"Don't you worry about it, buddy," said Tai.

"I've missed you, Yokomon," Sora said, holding her close and nuzzling her cheek.

Sora joined Tai then, and with their Digimon in tow, they walked together through the streets, quiet but smoking and scattered with debris from the aftermath. She was cold from the chilly breeze, but she made sure Yokomon was warm in her arms. What was about to happen next, she had no idea, but alongside Tai and her friends, she couldn't wait to embark on their next adventure.

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A/N: Give thanks to skymont for planting this idea in my head. BTW, did you see the new cover art for the main fic? She did that! Thanks again, Sky!

Anyway, I really enjoyed the AU I wrote for Colors, but I'll admit I miss writing Adventure fics. That being said, I'm getting back to my fic "Digital Recovery" along with other fic ideas :)

I decided to keep this separate from "Color Shots" since this story isn't part of that universe. More of that in the works, too, btw. :)

Anyway, hope you're all doing well, and YES I'm going to say it. xxx

..Stay warm..